The American eel has been proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) due to significant population decline. Because of American eels' complex life histories, this ESA listing could potentially impact a significant number of hydropower projects, most likely in the Great Lakes/St Lawrence River basin, New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. In the Columbia River Basin (CRB), Pacific lampreys (Entosphenus tridentatus) are of special concern because their populations have severely declined in the past 40 years. Construction and operation of hydroelectric facilities may negatively impact juvenile lamprey because these declines occurred after the period of major hydroelectric development.
Knowledge of eel and lamprey behavior and survival are critical for developing mitigation strategies for downstream and upstream passage, including design of bypass systems at hydroelectric facilities and for irrigation diversion structures. However, other systems used to monitor other species, such as Salmon, utilize relatively large transmitters which impose significant burdens upon smaller species, such as eel and lamprey and others.
At least some aspects of the disclosure provide systems, apparatus and methods for monitoring various aquatic species according to example embodiments described in detail below.